Crawling In The Dark
by sweetcrimefighter
Summary: What if we tell someone ?" Haley suddenly asked Lucas, he sighed, she would always get nervous on the drive home and ask the same question everytime. Will the twins Lucas and Haley James ever tell anyone what happens to them at home ? Will they survive ?
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N : First of all, to the readers of my other stories, I am still continuing them, I am writing follow up chapters for some of my other stories, and for some stories, I'm kinda stuck. I will update every story, some sooner then other. So hang in there with me, thanks._**

**_Summary : Lucas and Haley James are cought in a web of lies, abuse, torture and rape. Will they ever be freed from this cycle of violence ? Very dark story. Rated M for certain scenes._**

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**Crawling In The Dark**

**Chapter 1**

It was a new start for the twins, Lucas and Haley James, as they stepped into the halls of Tree Hill High. They were receiving stares from everyone because they were new, but at least the stares weren't because of something worse, this time.

Lucas and Haley were 16 years old and adopted. They had been adopted when they were 2 years old by Mr. and Mrs. Harold. The Harold had insested Lucas and Haley kept their own last names when they adopted them. It had been strange, but they oblidged.

Haley glanced at Lucas from time to time, trying to do her best to not let the tears of guilt run freely. It had happened again last night, as it does every night. Neither of them can stop it, never, they can only protect their secret.

Lucas didn't pay attention to any of the people in the school, he just had to protect his sister. He may not be able to protect her at home, but at school, no one would ever EVER hurt her. That much he knew for sure.

They both stayed silent as they continued to walk, in search for the principal's office. They walked past a guy with raven black hair standing in between a girl with blonde curls and a girl with straight dark brown hair.

Lucas didn't know why, but for some reason, he couldn't keep his eyes of of them, he just stood still for a few seconds, staring, as they stared back, it felt rather uncomfortable. Lucas was pulled out of his gaze by Haley, it stung his arm, but he made no sound, nor did he flinch, he was used to the pain by now.

"Okay, that was awkwurd. What was that all about?" The small brunette said to her friends as she continued to stare at the spot where the new boy had been watching them.

"Maybe he's got a hard on for you, Brooke. I know I do." The boy said as he tried to kiss Brooke on the cheek, she pushed him away, laughing. He always acted silly like that.

"Eww, Nate, find yourself a girlfriend. Perv." She said as she whiped the spot on her right cheek where he had kissed her. Nathan Scott was the most popular guy in school. He was the captain of the Ravens basketball team and yet he had no girlfriend. He always said most girls at Tree Hill High had too little braincells for him. He smirked at Brooke, she rolled her eyes.

Brooke Davis, she was one of the most popular girls at Tree Hill High, she was Co-Captain of the Ravens cheerleader. She was single too, but had no problem with it, knowing she could have a guy at her side by just snapping her fingers. The other most popular girl in school and Co-Captain of the cheerleaders was the blonde girl next to Nathan, Peyton Sawyer. She was also Brooke's best friend and Nathan's ex-girlfriend. The three of them always hung together, they were the best of friends and always had fun with one and other.

Lucas and Haley sat in the chairs before the desk of the principal's office, he had been staring at them for a few moments now, sillence ruling the room. Finally he opened two files and read through them quickly.

"First, I'd like to say welcome to Tree Hill. I hope you will enjoy your time here. Second, I must say I'm impressed, the two of you have an amazing track record. I see you almost always get straight A's, that's very good." He said, Lucas rolled his eyes.

He knew what would happen if he got less than an A, he once came home with an A minus, he can't even think about what happened then without getting sick, though that had been nothing compared to the time he came home with a B.

"Thank you, principal Turner. Can we go now so we can find our class in time ?" Haley asked, Lucas was always amazed by the way she handled herself around people, she did it much better of him. She was always friendly and calm, while Lucas always had to control his anger and fear.

"Off course, enjoy your first day." Principal Turner said as Lucas and Haley stood up and walked out of the class. Again, they were silent. This is how they operated during the day, through silence, they wanted to focuss on anything besides home, but it wasn't working for either of them.

"What's the first class ?" Haley asked Lucas, they always had the exact same classes, they always insisted on that and they always got their wish due to the fact they were such good students.

"P.E., followed by a free period." Lucas said with a sigh, he hated P.E. as did Haley. They always had to wait to get dressed until everyone had left the room, they always got called freaks for that.

Haley looked at Lucas, she wasn't sure if he'd be up to P.E. today, but then again, skipping it was out of the question, or they would only make things worse if their parents found out. She touched his hand, letting him know that they would do it together as they always did. He smiled, as long as she was by his side, he was able to smile.

They said goodbye as they had to change in seperate rooms, everyone stared as Lucas entered the boys locker room. Lucas noticed that guy with the raven black hair from earlier in the hall was looking at him again. Lucas sat down on the bench as the rest of the boys changed into their blue shorts and white t-shirt.

"Yo, new guy, coach is gonna kill you if you show up late." the guy with raven black hair said as some of the other boys already started to leave the locker room. Nathan was a little weirded out that the new kid wasn't speaking or doing anything at all. He decided to find out what the deal with him was later, he didn't want to be late for practice.

As Nathan stepped inside the gym, he saw Brooke waving him to come over, she was standing with Peyton. Nathan smiled and walked over to them, before he could say anything, Brooke began to talk.

"You will never believe what just happened in our locker room." Brooke said, Peyton rolled her eyes, she loved Brooke, she did and Brooke was one of the nicest persons she knew, but when she knew about a good gossip, she could talk about it for hours.

"Propably nothing as weird as what happened in my locker room." Nathan said as he tilded his head over to the direction of the boys locker room.

"No, it's much better, it's... wait, what happened in your locker room ?" Brooke asked, it was an awfull coincedence that something would happen in the boys locker room at the same time something happened in the girls locker room.

"The new guy, the one we saw earlier today, with the sandy blonde hair, he wouldn't get changed. He just sat down on the bench and stared at the floor while the rest of us changed." Nathan said, he saw by the expression on Brooke and Peyton's faces that they hadn't expected that.

"What ?" He asked as the girls looked at their locker room.

"The new girl that keeps hanging with the new guy did the exact same thing. She just sat down on the bench and looked at the floor. When we told her Coach Whitey would get mad if she were late, she just shrugged and kind of chuckled." Peyton said as she looked at Brooke and Nathan. That was very weird indeed, and if Peyton knew one thing, she knew Brooke and Nathan would try and get to the bottom of that, they could never control their curiousity.

Coach Brian 'Whitey' Durham blew his whistle and told them they would play basketball during today's class. Everyone liked that, they always begged Whitey to let them play basketball during gym class, but usually he would let them run or do some other exercises. For Nathan, this was considered as some extra practice, since he and a few other guys in the class were on the team.

Five minutes into the game, Lucas finally came out of the locker room, followed by Haley coming out of her locker room. Lucas gave Haley a small smile, they always timed their watches so they would come outside around the same time.

Haley walked over to Lucas, but before either one could say anything, Coach Whitey blew his whistle again. Everyone stopped playing and looked at the two newcomers. Coach Whitey stepped through the crowd of students and walked to the newcomers and stopped when he stood a little before them.

"Is there any good reason why you two are late for my class ?" Whitey asked, staring in their eyes. He could usually read someone by the look in their eyes, but this time it was strange, the thing he thought he saw in both their eyes was pain, sorrow, anger. He didn't show it, but he was a little startled by this. Haley and Lucas both shook their heads, there was no reason to why they were late.

"Hmm, what's your name girly ?" Whitey asked, Haley just stared and the floor as she answered.

"Haley... Haley James." She said, then Whitey turned to Lucas.

"What about you, boy ? You have a name ?" Whitey asked, Lucas sighed, if this coach would be pissed at them everytime they were late, they would really have to re-consider changing untill everyone was gone.

"Lucas James." He said, Whitey nodded.

"Ah, the twins that transferred. I see the resemblence. Now, one last thing, why are both of you violating the dress code ?" Whitey asked as he looked at the long sleeved shirts both Lucas and Haley were wearing under their T-shirt.

"It's cold." They both answered at the same time, which happened every now and then, it was funny, though they didn't really smile.

"Ah, we have some jokers here, fine. You can joke around while giving me 20 laps around the court, followed by 10 sit ups and 5 free throws in a row. You screw up, you start over, everything. If you don't finish in time, too bad, you're staying here till you're ready. Enjoy." Whitey said as Haley and Lucas' face turned sour.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Luke ?" Haley asked Lucas as they got ready to start, Lucas didn't answer. He just started to run the 20 laps, Haley sighed and followed. Every bone in her body hurt and she knew it was the same or worse for Lucas.

Lucas felt free as he ran, he only had 10 more laps to do, he was doing great. Haley wasn't as fast, but she had never been good at sports and she was probably hurting. He felt the pain too, but he kept going, he had to be strong, brave, for Haley's sake. So he tried his best to ignore the pain, so far, it was working.

By the end of the class, Lucas and Haley were busy doing their last sit-ups. They both stood up at about the same time, but instead of picking up a ball and walking to the hoop, Lucas walked up to Coach Whitey.

"Coach ?" Lucas said, he forgot what his name was.

"Yes ?" Whitey said as he turned around, Haley looked at Lucas talking to Whitey, she wasn't sure what he was asking him, but she hoped it had nothing to do with home. Nathan, Brooke and Peyton had been joking around, they were the last people, exept for the coach and the James twins in the gym. They stopped playing when they saw Lucas head up to the coach.

"Could I do Haley's free throws too ? It's because she broke her arm once a few years ago and she can't really throw a ball, at all. I don't want her to have to start over again." Lucas said, coach Whitey looked over at Haley watching them, then back at Lucas.

"Fine, you can do your throws, your sister's throws and 20 more. If you fail to do 30, you start over." Coach Whitey said as he walked over to the bleachers with a clip board in his hand, and sat down, as he did that, he noticed Nathan, Peyton and Brooke sitting not far from him.

"Why aren't you changing for your next class ?" Whitey asked them as he looked at them, suspicious of why they were still there.

"We have a free period, we wanted to see the new kid throw." Nathan said as he looked while Lucas stepped up to the line and began his free throws. The first one went in very smoothly, as did the second one and the one after that. They all went in very smoothly, as if he were a natural.

Lucas got ready for the last shot, he knew it would go straight in, they always did. He loved this game, but he didn't play it, he would have to leave Haley alone at home too much and besides, everyone would notice the bruises then, so he never joined any teams, though he had been asked a lot at his previous school.

He made the shot and again it went straight in, Haley smiled at Lucas, she was glad he did her free throws, she was awfull at it. Without any comments, Lucas and Haley headed to the locker rooms, only to be stopped by Whitey.

"James!" Whitey yelled, Lucas turned around, as did Haley, she knew it wasn't her he was calling, but she wanted to hear what the coach had to say.

"You were good out there. How would you like to try out for the Ravens, our basketball team ?" Whitey asked, Lucas sighed, he wanted to say yes, but he couldn't, he just knew he couldn't.

"Thanks, but I don't play." Lucas said before he dissapeared into the boys locker room and Haley dissapeared into the girls locker room.

Peyton, Nathan and Brooke were horsing around again, they still had 40 minutes left to their next class, which was enough time.

"Hey B. Davis, shouldn't you be snooping around in our locker room ? The new girl's there, maybe she'll tell you her secret." Peyton said as Brooke did a backhand flip.

"Nah, I'm having too much fun, I'll do it later." Brooke said as she stood up and threw herself at Nathan. Coach Whitey watched the scene and shook his head, they did that almost every time and no matter how much he yelled at them or punished them, they still did it.

Lucas and Haley had managed to survive their first day at Tree Hill together. At lunch that had sat together, in a dark corner, avoiding everyone, their usual routine. They dreaded going home, they knew what would happen, they always knew. But they had no choice, and they couldn't be late either, so they got into Lucas' car and he started to drive home.

"What if we tell someone ?" Haley suddenly asked Lucas, he sighed, she would always get nervous on the drive home and ask the same question everytime.

"We've discussed this, we tell, we're out on the streets, no one would believe us." Lucas said as he made a turn into the street he lived, coming closer to their house.

"Besides, we deserve everything we get. We're bad children." Lucas said as he pulled up at the driveway of their house.

"Yeah, bad..." Haley said as she and Lucas got out of the car, walked up to the door, opened it and walked inside, to the living room to greet their parents.

"Hi mommy, hi daddy." Haley said as she gave her parents a kiss on the cheek, she was forced to do that every day, several times, if she didn't, hell would be paid.

"Hello sir. Hello mother." Lucas said as he nodded his head at them, he was forced to greet them that way, at least it was better than Haley's way, which simply sickened him.

"How was your first day ?" Shana Harold, their adoptive mother asked, smiling her usual sneeky smile.

"Fine, thank you." Lucas said by which Haley agreed, they were about to head upstairs to their rooms when a hand on Haley's wrist stopped her, she froze on the spot as her wrist started to hurt and her heart started to break.

Lucas turned around, looking from Haley to John Harold, his adoptive father, standing behind Haley, holding her wrist.

"We have homework." Lucas said, knowing he'd only get himself in trouble by talking back, and he was right.

Without any warning, Shana slapped him across the face, looking very pissed.

"You know you're not permitted to speak unless we say so." She said as she slapped him again as punishment, Lucas touched his cheek, trying to control himself so he wouldn't start crying.

"Haley..." Lucas said as he looked at Haley, she still stood in the same spot, frozen, silently crying. John let go of Haley and walked up to Lucas. He looked him straight in the eye before hitting him in the stomach, not once, not twice, but three times. All this time Lucas stayed on his feet, he didn't want to leave Haley alone, knowing what would happen.

"Go upstairs! I'll deal with you later!" John said, grabbing Lucas by his neck and pushing him to the stairs. Lucas knew what his father meant when he said he'd deal with him later, he knew, he always knew. He looked at Haley once more and headed upstairs, there was nothing that could be done that wouldn't make it worse for both of them.

John walked back to Haley, grabbed her arm, so hard it hurt, and lead her to the only bedroom on the first floor. Without even realizing it, she started to struggle, as she did everytime. He hit her in the stomach, causing her to fall to the floor.

"Get up!" He yelled as he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She was crying, yelling she didn't want to, which only caused more beatings. He threw her inside the room, pulled her up again and threw her on the bed, she cried out in pain.

"Please, daddy, please don't." Haley begged as he began to pull her pants down, followed by her panties. He took of his own pants and underweard and forcred himself in her. She cried out in pain, she tried to dissapear into her mind. Think about something happy, something she loved, singing, she loved that, she could escape the pain if she thought of that. But it didn't work, it never worked, the pain only got worse as she screamed, John put his hand over her mouth.

Lucas burried his head under his pillow, he couldn't stand the screams of his baby sister (he was 5 minutes older). All he wanted was to go down there and help her, but he knew they'd only get punished more because of that.

The screams finally stopped after an hour, two hours, three, Lucas didn't keep track. One minute felt like a lifetime, so it really didn't matter how long it was this time.

John got off of Haley and looked at her wih disgust.

"Get dressed and go to your room. Filfthy whore." He said as he spat to the ground and left the room for Haley to get dressed. She put her panties and her pants back on, she didn't cry. She always cried during and hours after, but right after she never cried, she couldn't for some reason.

She stood up and walked upstairs to her room. She wanted Lucas to comfort her, but she knew they'd get punished for that, they weren't allowed to talk to each other in the house, they had broken that rule several times, especially at night, sometimes they were lucky and didn't get caught, but most of the times, they got caught and things got bad then.

As she walked inside the room and turned on the light she jumped up when she saw her mother sitting on her bed, smoking a cigarette.

"Did you enjoy it ? Slut." Shana said as she took a puf from her cigarette. Haley knew what was to come, this didn't happen everytime, but it happened often enough, whenever Shana was too drunk or high or both.

Haley wanted to say no, but she knew if she did that, she was only going to hurt herself with it. She had learned to say yes a long time ago, so it came easier.

"Yes, momma." Haley said as she felt even more disgusted now. Shana motioned Haley to sit down next to her as she took another puf of her cigarette. Haley swallowed but did as she was told, trying to prepare herself for what was to come.

"You're dirty. Dirty girls need to be punished." Shana said as she grabbed Haley's left arm, Haley didn't struggle, she did nothing that would make it worse.

"Yes, momma." Haley said as her breathing got quicker and the heet of the cigarette came closer. Haley closed her eyes, she didn't want to see it, she bit down on her teeth, waiting for it to come.

Suddenly she screamed, she couldn't help it, who wouldn't scream when a cigarette was pushed onto your skin.

"I... I... I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'll try to be good, I promise." Haley cried, Shana nodded, took the cigarette of Haley's skin and walked outside the room. Haley held her arm, crying, she wished for death to come so badly, she couldn't keep living like this.

Lucas had heard the scream coming from the room across his, he knew what it was. They never did that to him, but he knew because she showed him the first time their mother did that to her. He had his own punishments, the only thing they had in common about the punishments was what happened in in the bedrooms with their father. He couldn't even think about the word that was used for that, he just thought of it as a bad nightmare and the day they would go to far and finally kill him, he would wake up and be happy...

It was past 1am when the door of his room opened, he was still awake, he hardly ever slept, he sat up, hoping to find Haley standing there, instead he saw his father, John Harold. Lucas swallowed, he hated this part. John would always take Haley to his bedroom, but not Lucas. He always came to Lucas' bedroom at night, always holding a sharp needle and lighter in his left hand.

"Take of your shorts and turn around." John said as he stepped further into the room untill he stood at the end of the bed.

"No, I can't." Lucas said, he always said this, he never did what John asked, he knew he should, he was bad for not listening and deserved to be punished, at least that's what he believed. But still, he said no each time, hoping, praying, maybe one day John would listen and go away, but he never did.

He walked up to the right side of the bed and kicked Lucas off the bed. Lucas crawled away, trying to reach the door, but John grabbed him by his neck before he could reach it. Lucas was thrown onto the bed again with a loud thump.

Lucas struggled with John, waving his arms in the air, but John was much stronger then Lucas and not too mention in better condition too. He turned Lucas around, forcing him to lay on his stomach as John pulled his shorts off, took of his own pants and underwear and began to violate Lucas yet again.

Lucas bit down on his pillow, tears running down his face, but he didn't scream, he almost never screamed. He tried to struggle, but it hurt and he was too weak.

Haley lay awake in her bed, she had heard all the loud thumps, she knew what was happening. They were bad to her, but worse to him, they were always worse to him. He had the courage to speak up, he once said something about their mother's drug addiction and he was locked in his room for a week, tortured, abused, without any food. He had survived it, but he had never been the same after that week, when the abuse first started, we took it in, it wasn't so bad yet, but that week, they began something which changed him more than anything. Something they have continued over the years, whenever they felt like it.

After John had put his pants back on, he started to heat the needle, Lucas didn't move, he laid perfectly still. He knew the reason why John was still in his room, the thing that changed him more than anything, it was about to happen again. This was more painfull than anything, he bit down on his pillow, very hard, so he wouldn't scream, he hated it when he screamed, but this was very hard.

John pulled Lucas' T-shirt up and revealed carvings on his back. Numbers from 1 to 4 and sentences next to them were carved in his skin, done with a heated needle.

Whenever John would brand Lucas, he would either carve a number or a letter, only one each night, so it wouldn't be over too fast. Lucas knew what was written on the carvings, he had forced Haley to tell him, even though she didn't want to tell him because it was too awfull.

It said this, so far :

**1 I AM BAD**

**2 I AM DIRTY**

**3 I AM WEAK**

**4 I AM STUPID**

John was currently carving the number 5 in Lucas' back as Lucas had to use every fiber in his being not to scream, biting down hard on his pillow, his nails digging into his bed, tears running down his face, he had succeeded, he hadn't screamed as the number 5 was now on his back, blood dripping from the still open wound.

"Good night, son." John said, very casual and almost sweet sounding, as if nothing had just happened. Lucas sighed and stood up, he was going to take a shower. He always showered at night, it was another torture method of them, he wasn't allowed to shower during the day, only at night, to keep him up longer, he was also forced to get up at 5am, which was only 3 hours away...

Lucas didn't feel like a human being, he hadn't felt like that for a long time. He felt like an object people could play with and he would take it all in. It was his own fault, he was bad, dirty, weak, stupid and whatever was to come next. He's been told those things for so long he just believes them, he's to blame, not his parents, but he is to blame, he has sinned too many times and so has Haley. ..

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N : Chapter two up already, that was soon, I'll let this rest for a few days now while I update my other stories, I promise the next chapter will be up within 7 days. Enjoy._**

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**Chapter 2**

It was 5am, Lucas' alarm clock went off, he immediately turned it off. He hadn't slept at all, after taking an hour long shower, he just sat up straight in his bed, staring into the dark void of nothing. He couldn't have slept even if he wanted to, his back was killing him, the fresh wound of the new carving on his back was stinging like hell and hurt too much to touch.

He put on his clothes and walked downstairs, everyone was still asleep, with the exception of John Harold, his father. John was sitting in his brown leather chair, holding a glass of scotch in his hand. He took a sip of it as he watched Lucas enter the room.

"Good nights sleep ?" John asked without even looking at Lucas. Lucas froze, he hoped his father wouldn't do anything this time, he hated it when it happened before school. It barely ever did happen then, but there had been moments. Lucas swallowed before answering.

"Yes, thank you, sir." He said as he walked to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Haley and John. Shana always slept till noon or later, she didn't work, she didn't do anything that could be considered as good. John was an accountant, a welthy one, Lucas didn't know how they got so rich, he didn't care.

He got to the kitchen without John calling him back, he sighed in relief. He began to take everything he needed out of the cupboards and fridge. He was making eggs with bacon for John and two bowls of cornflakes for him and Haley. When he finished making his and Haley's lunch for school, she entered the kitchen. Which meant it was 6am, the time she was forced to get up.

She looked straight in his eyes, she could tell he had been crying, not because his eyes were red, but just because, she just knew, everytime, just as he knew she had been crying. She didn't say anything, besides greeting their parents, they were forced to be silent unless they were asked a question. It was their way of controlling them even more.

Haley sat down at the breakfast table, followed by John. It was another one of the things they were forced to do, Lucas was forced to make breakfast, then he, Haley and John sat down and ate their breakfast together, in silence. It wasn't so they would appear as a happy family or anything like that, he did it to torture them even more. He would always give them these smiles, evil smiles, telling them he owned them, both of them. They were trapped, not literaly, but emotionaly, they were trapped. He knew that and they knew it, and every morning he delighted in reminding them of that fact, sickening them in the process.

When 7am came, Lucas had already done the dishes and he and Haley were ready to leave for school. Every single minute in their life had been controlled by their father, he told them what to do, how to do it, and when to do it.

They walked up to the car and stepped in, Lucas flinged as his back brushed up against the leaning of the car seat, it didn't go unnoticed by Haley. Tears filled her eyes as Lucas started up the car and began to drive, without a word.

"He branded you again, didn't he ?" Haley asked as she watched his expression turn sour, she got her answer by that.

"It's nothing, I'm fine. What about you ? How's your burn ?" Lucas asked, he was more concerned about his sister's wellbeing than his. He had it all settled, he had written a little, and left it with his father's lawyor, telling him not to open it and give it to the police if he ever died or dissapeared. The lawyer had been a little thrown by this requst, but he had oblidged. This way, if anything ever did happen to Lucas, Haley would be cared for.

"It's fine, stings a little, that's all." Haley said, it was a lie, she had lied to her brother, but she didn't want to scare him. She had noticed this morning that this burn looked worse than all the others after it had just happened. She thought it could be infected, or maybe it was simply in her imagination. Either way, she would take care of it on her own.

Lucas parked the car at school and got out along with Haley. They walked to the school, staying close to each other, still avoiding the stares that continued to last. It was the second day and news of their weirdness in the gym locker rooms had already gotten out, they ignored the whispers and stares as they headed for their first class.

The first class of the day was English Literature, one of Lucas' favorite classes. He didn't have many favorite things in his life, excep Haley. But he related to the things they discussed in the class, it was the only class he would ever freely speak up in.

They sat in the back of the class, staying pretty unperceived by their fellow class mates. The only person Lucas recognized was the girl with the curly blonde hair he had seen earlier with that other girl and that guy. She looked into his eyes for a second before taking place in the seat before him.

The class started as most of the students listened very carefully and some drifted to sleep. Lucas smiled as he escaped in the quotes of books being read aloud, the only escape he ever had.

The teacher looked at a sheet of paper and began to read a sentence as he looked at his class.

"Malcom X. once said; _**'You can't seperate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.'**_. What do you think about this sentence, was he right, or wrong ? Can one truly be at peace without freedom, or not ?" Mr. Simmons, the middle-aged, brown haired teacher asked.

Lucas and Haley's hand immediately went up, Haley loved this class too, and it was a subject they knew everything about. Several other students raised their hands aswell, while some remained in the background, not wanting to participate in this class.

"Miss. Sawyer." Mr. Simmons said as he pointed to Peyton, she lowered her hands as well as everyone else, and began to speak.

"I think he was wrong. I mean, look at us high school students, we don't really have much freedom, if we aren't being controlled by our parents, telling us where to go, then we're being controlled by our school, our teachers, telling us what do do. But that doesn't mean we're not at peace, I believe you can be at peace at all times, even without freedom." Peyton said, she wasn't sure if she believed her own words, but she liked to have an oppinion that controdicted the oppinions of the writers.

"Do you actually believe that ?" Lucas asked in wonder, he couldn't comprehend anyone would actually believe someone could find peace without freedom.

"You disagree, euh, mr...." The teacher tried to remember Lucas' name, but since this was the first time he had his class, he didn't know his name.

"Lucas James, and yes, I disagree." Lucas said as he looked at Peyton, looking into her eyes, he saw something he recognized in his own eyes whenever he looked in the mirror, hurt, pain. He wondered why that was.

"Why do you disagree with Ms. Sawyer's opinion, Mr. James ?" Mr. Simmons asked as he looked at Lucas, looking at Peyton.

"I don't agree with her opinion, but I don't agree with Malcom's opinion either. I agree that peace can not be found without freedom, because without freedom, you have nothing, especially peace. But I don't really agree with Malcom X because I don't believe in such a thing as peace, not for the living anyway." Lucas said, everyone was amazed by what he had said, they had no idea he was so deep.

"That's interesting, care to elaberate ?" Mr. Simmons asked, he quoted this quote of Malcom X many times over the years, he had gotten very different answer, but never one like this.

"I just don't believe that living human beings can truly ever be at peace. There's always one thing or another that keeps you from reaching that stage. In my opinion, the only people who are ever at peace are the people who are dead. When someone dies, people always say Rest In Peace, but no one ever tells a living person to Live In Peace, that's because that's simply impossible. The dead have peace because they leave all of their worries when they leave this world. The living can never truly be at peace, because they always carry their worries with them." Lucas said, he knew that it was a rather dark and gloomy answer, but he believed it to be the truth.

Before anyone could respond to that, Peyton spoke up again, this time on Lucas' side.

"I think he's right. I know what I said, but I must say I'd sooner believe what Lucas said than what I said." Peyton said, Mr. Simmons nodded, he was enjoying this little debate.

"I agree too, 100%" Haley said as she looked at Lucas and gave him a small smile, she knew exactly what he meant and how he got to that conclusion, she knew, because she had wished for that peace to come for years now and she knew he had been wishing the same thing.

"And you are ?" The teacher asked Haley.

"Haley James." She said, the only thing she was proud of in her life was the James name, the fact she shared it with Lucas and the fact it wasn't her father or mother's last name made her proud about at least one thing.

"Ah, Lucas' twin sister." He said and Haley nodded, but said nothing. The class continued and when the bell rang, it was time for Haley and Lucas to go back to reality, which completely sucked for them. They headed out the class into the hall when they heard someone call out to them.

"Hey, James twins!" Peyton yelled as she cought up with Lucas and Haley, they turned around to meet her, wondering what she wanted.

"Hey, I'm Peyton Sawyer." She said, reaching out her hand, Haley and Lucas both shook it, introducing themselves.

"So, Luke, is it okay if I say Luke (Lucas nodded, Haley also called him that sometimes), I really liked what you said in class today, it was really deep and meaningfull." Peyton said as she gave Lucas a smile, he however didn't smile back. He and Haley were always very cautious around other people, they had to be after what happened at their old school.

"Euh, so I wanted to invite you to come have lunch with me and my friends later, you interested ?" Peyton asked, looking from Haley to Lucas, but mostly to Lucas.

Haley didn't say anything, she didn't really care, she knew Peyton was only inviting them because she seemed to have a thing for Lucas or something like that, Haley didn't really have much experience in that area.

Lucas wanted to say yes, but he couldn't. He knew if he said yes, he would be making a mistake, yet again, and it would cost him and Haley.

"I'm sorry, we can't." Lucas said as he turned around, followed by Haley, leaving Peyton stunned. She couldn't believe that they just left like that, without saying a word, they just left. She sighed and went to find Brooke and Nathan, she wouldn't tell them about this, they were too curious about them already, she didn't want to ad to that curiousity, all though it was starting to affect her too.

Haley followed Lucas into their Math class and sat in the back, they never noticed that the girl with the straight, dark brown hair was no one other than Brooke Davis herself, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Is this how it's gonna be from now on ? Reject every possible friend we could make ?" Haley whispered to Lucas as she was close to his ear, no one could hear it or was interested enough to hear it, but Brooke did hear it.

"I know it's not nice, but after what happened last time, we can't risk it. You know what they'd do to us if it ever happens again." Lucas whispered back, Brooke didn't know what they were talking about, but whatever it was, it seemed serious.

"I know, I know. But it was Gina's fault, she was our friend and she betrayed us by spreading all those rumors, who's to say that would happen again this time ?" Haley asked, neither she nor Lucas realized someone was listening in to their entire conversation.

"Yeah, but chances are it would happen again, so let's just drop it, okay ?" Lucas said, he knew he was being blunt to Haley, but she needed to realize that the only one she could trust was him and vice versa.

"Okay, it's dropped." Haley said as she let out a sigh. She knew why Lucas was so afraid to make friends again. She was afraid too, but she hated living her life in such complete isolation, it was slowly killing her.

Brooke wasn't sure what she had just heard, but she knew she needed to find out what those rumors were about. It was only a matter of time...

As soon as the class was over, Brooke went to find Nathan and Peyton, since they all had a free period this hour, they had a free period each day, most students went to study hall then or the library or they went to the courtyard and just hung out with their friends, as Brooke, Nathan and Peyton always did.

As she went outside and headed for her usual table, she saw Nathan and Peyton were already sitting there, laughing about something, she didn't know what, she didn't care.

"You guys will never believe what I just heard." Brooke said as she sat down, overexited.

"Hello to you too." Nathan said as he raised his eyebrows at her.

"Bite me." Brooke replied, sticking out her tongue, Nathan chuckled as Peyton rolled her eyes.

"See, much better." Nathan replied as he pretended to snap at her.

"Cute, now what did you hear ?" Peyton said, she wasn't as playfull as Brooke or Nathan, but she had her moments, but she was usually the one to be serious, Brooke always said she was jealous of that quality in her.

Brooke told Nathan and Peyton the conversation she overheard between Haley and Lucas in detail. She always had trouble remember things she learned in class, but when it came to gossip, no one remembered it better than her. They listened carefully as Brooke spoke, they found it strange too and even Peyton became more curious about what the twins were hiding.

"We need to find out what school they came from, today." Brooke said as she thought about the possible things Lucas and Haley could be hiding.

"And do what exactly ?" Peyton asked, she had no idea where Brooke was going with this.

"We skip school tomorrow and go to their old school. Pretend to be new students or something, we'll blend in and ask around about Haley and Lucas." Brooke said, Nathan smiled, he was liking this plan. Peyton however seemed worried.

"I don't know Brooke, it must have been something really bad that they had to move, maybe we should leave this alone." Peyton said, she didn't want to invade anyone's privacy, and by the sound of this plan, that was exactly what they were planning to do.

"Oh, come on P. Sawyer, don't tell that after everything I've told you you're still not curious ?" Brooke questioned her, when Peyton didn't answer, Brooke smiled, they were going through with the plan.

"I thought so." She said as she grinned.

"Okay, so how are we gonna find out where they transferred from ? I can't ask them, I invited them to join us for lunch and they kinda blew me of." Peyton confessed, Brooke's mouth widened as she heard that.

"You little bitch, you were so trying to get some info out of them, and then try and tell me you're not curious." Brooke said in pretend hurt tone, but everyone knew she just found it funny that Peyton had the exact same thoughts as her and Nathan.

"I'll find out, when I see Lucas I'll start some small talk with him and then casually ask him about his last school." Nathan said and Brooke said that was a briljant idea, the plan was being set in motion.

Lucas and Haley sat in the same corner as they did the day before to eat lunch. They weren't saying much, they used to talk as much as possible out of the house, but after a while, talking faded away and became simple stares. What would they talk about ? The abuse ? The torture ? The rapes ? No, they hardly ever talked about it, except for the usual 'are you okay' questions, they didn't talk about it.

Being in each others pressence was enough for them, it was comforting, knowing they had each other to lean on, but they hardly ever broke down infront of each other. They were both so busy blaming themselves for what happened to the other, that they were afraid to show too much emotion when they were together. They didn't realize it yet, but they were slowly drifting apart.

Before they could even look up, the guy with the raven black hair they had seen several times around school, had come and sat down at their table, without even asking.

"Can I help you ?" Lucas asked, he wasn't always very friendly towards people, not like Haley, who always was. But Haley understood where Lucas was coming from, why he didn't trust anyone, the only person they ever trusted stabbed them in the back, which worsened their trust issues even more.

"I'm Nathan Scott, Captain of the Tree Hill Ravens basketball team." Nathan proudly said as he reached out his hand and shook Haley and Lucas' hands as they introduced themselves, the same way they had done to Peyton.

"So, I saw your free throws, you're really good. Could I be I played against you and your team at your old school ? Euh, what was the school's name, I don't remember..." Nathan said as he pretended to trail of thinking of the name of the school, tricking Lucas into telling him without giving him any reason for suspision.

"ThornView High, but I didn't play on the team, so you must be mistaken me with someone else." Lucas said, without the knowledge that Nathan was pumping him for information.

"Oh, so, are you joining our team ?" Nathan asked, he couldn't just walk away right after he got the name of the school, he had to make some more small talk first.

"No, I don't have the time." Lucas said, he wondered where this conversation was headed, Nathan didn't seem like the type to just step up to the new kids and start hanging with them.

"Oh, I see. Well, if you change your mind, come find me. Nice talking to you." Nathan said as he stood up, winked at Haley and walked away.

"That was strange." Haley said, she didn't trust Nathan, he seemed to have a hidden agenda, she didn't want Lucas to get hurt even more then he already has.

"Yeah..." Lucas said as he looked at the table Nathan was walking towards, where Peyton and the brunette girl were sitting.

"I got the name, ThornView High, I'll look it up during 6th period, I've got computer class. I'll text you when I know where it is." Nathan said as he sat down, Brooke was content, Peyton was still a little worried, she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but she stayed silent as she listened to Nathan and Brooke bable about stupid meaningless things.

When Brooke was sitting next to Peyton during her homeroom class, she felt her phone vibrate, as did Peyton. They both got out their phones, carefully, so their b*tch of a teacher wouldn't see it and read the same message.

_**'Hey, got the adress. Some town callled, no guess there, ThornView, 2hr drive, leaving at 5am. Meet up at rivercourt. Be ready. X Nate.' **_The text message read, Brooke looked at Peyton, she seemed very exited, Peyton sighed, she had a bad feeling about this, as if they were going to do more harm than good by going there. Then again, you always do harm when you try to find out someone's deepest, darkest secrets...

As yet another day had passed, Lucas pulled the car up at the house. They had just finished having the same conversation they had each they, should they tell ? The conversation was always the same, a routine, a ritual if you'd like. Dreading yet another night home, they stepped out and went inside the house.

They went into the living room, to greet their parents, not knowing how long it would take for the bad things to begin this time, but when they entered the room, no one was there. Not Shana, not John, no one. All they saw was a note on the coffee table.

Lucas picked it up and read it aloud.

_**Shana was sick,**_

_**took her to the ER,**_

_**won't be back until morning,**_

_**don't leave the house!**_

_**John.**_

Yeah, right, sick, she probably overdosed again, John wouldn't be back for a few days if that was the case, but they would still have to do their usual routine, because they had no idea when exactly he would be back.

"I can't believe we have a night of, it's been months since we had one of those." Haley said in utter disbelief, the last time Shana overdosed was 5 months ago, they had spend 6 wonderfull days alone then, only to get the living crap kicked out of them afterwards because somehow they had been to blame for what had happened. Haley knew that would happen again, but still, it was worth it if she got a few nights of again.

"Yeah, I guess we have some time to rest." Lucas said as he sat down on the couch, he was exhausted, his back hurt, his legs hurt, his arms hurt, his head hurt, every fiber of his being hurt, just as it did with Haley.

She sat down too, thinking about the few blissfull days they would be left alone. She wondered if now was a good time to tell Lucas about the wound she thought was infected, because it wasn't the first time it had happened, it had happened once before, when she was 7, Lucas had taken care of it then.

"Luke, I have to show you something, I think it might be infected." She said as she rolled up her sleeve and revealed the ugly burn wound of the cigarette. It wasn't just red, but also showed signs of green and black collouration. It was indeed infected.

Lucas stood up, walked upstairs, got some disinfectants from the bathroom and came back with some clothes, a few bottle's of something, some bandages and a small boll of water.

"This is gonna sting." Lucas said as he dipped the tip of the white cloth in the water, he knew he had to clean out the wound as much as possible before he did anything else. As the water touched her burned skin, Haley flinged a little, it stung a lot.

"You okay ?" Lucas asked as he saw tears forming in the corner of Haley's eyes, she simply nodded and told him to continue.

"I'm gonna put some of this stuff on it (he showed her a yellow bottle with red stuff in it) to dissinfect it, it's gonna sting more than the water, but it should help." Lucas said, Haley nodded and braced herself for the pain to come.

As Lucas put the dissinfecant on her wound, she tried to pull her arm away, it stung that much, but he had anticipated that and had a tight grip on her arm, not tight enough to hurt her, but tight enough to keep her from pulling it away.

When he was done, he put a small bandage around it, it felt less painfull than it had all day long.

"Thanks Luke, you're a lifesaver." Haley said as she side-hugged him, carefully, so she wouldn't hurt his back. She didn't press him into showing her the fresh wound, she knew he would show her in time.

"If dad isn't back tomorrow, I'll do it again in the morning, before school, just make sure to keep it dry." Lucas said as he stood up and cleaned everything he had used up, so there would be no evidence of it.

"Why do they do it? Is it because we're addopted? Or because we really are bad kids?" Haley asked her twin brother, small tears running down her face.

"I don't know, probably both, maybe neither. I don't know, try not to think about it too much. Concentrate on something good." Lucas said, all though he knew that was impossible, if Haley was anything like him, which she was, then the thoughts of all the things that happened to them kept running through their minds, like a movie they could never shut off. The memories were in there, there was no way to forget them or ignore them, they were haunting them, taunting them even, driving them slowly over the edge...

It was 4.30am when Peyton arrived at the rivercourt, she wasn't able to sleep, so she figured she might as well could make it an early start. Much to her suprise, she saw Nathan and Brooke were already there, appearantly they hadn't been able to sleep either.

"If we leave now we'll be able to get some breakfast before infiltrating in the school." Nathan said as he threw his keys in the air and cought them with the same hand.

"Infiltrate ? You make it sound like we're in some secret agency government thing movie." Peyton said, Brooke and Nathan chuckled.

"We kinda are P. Sawyer, we're like spy's and we're going undercover in the school to find out a secret and save the world." Brooke said as she locked arms with Peyton and followed Nathan to his car.

"You had me untill the 'save the world' part, a little over the top." Peyton chuckled as Brooke simply rolled her eyes. Brooke was the most exited of them all, she was dying to find out what Haley and Lucas were hiding, even if it was the last thing she ever did...

**TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Author's Note

_**Author's Note:**_

_Hi, everyone. First of all, I want to apologize for the slow updates. I realize that you are waiting for new chapters and I am dissapointing you all. I just want to assure everyone that none of my stories are on hiatus (especially my beloved Twilight stories, but also the OTH ones and the Charmed one), I just have trouble writing for some. I also want to explain why I haven't been writing much lately._

_I just want to say that I love to write; it's my number one passsion, has been since I was a child. And lately I had been wondering; why? Why do I even write? Why do I do something that's not worth anything to anyone? But I realized I was acting stupid (which is nothing out of the ordinary for me) since it is worth something to someone; it's worth something to the people who follow and read every chapter with dedication for the story I write, which is simply heartwarming. I love all my readers and without you, I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near this far with my writing. So, thank you. You'll never know how much all your support means to me._

_And I do it because I love it, it's as simple as that. I guess I had forgotten that somewhere along the way. I just needed a few reminders. I'll never stop writing and I will finish each story currently on my account._

_My main focus stories right now are:_

_Captivity  
__They'll Never Know  
__Concrete Angel_

_It's not because of the reviews they receive or something; it's just because I have them all worked out in my mind. So those will be updated the most, the rest will have slower updates but I will update them. I promise you. And I don't lie; if I make a promise, I stick to it. No matter how hard it may be sometimes._

_So, until I post again (which will be a story chapter). I hope you forgive me for my slow updates and I will work as hard as possible to update more from now on._


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's note:**_

Hey, all. I know I promised I'd keep updating regularly and not disappear anymore, but there were things I just couldn't walk away from to write a story. My dad got sick, really sick, he almost died. He had to have this massive surgery and it was very touch and go for a while. I've been spending almost all my time with him in the hospital. He's only been home since last tuesday and he still has a lot of health problems we need to be careful off and has 3 nurses a day coming to take care of something still from the surgery. If my dad can get through this next month, through christmas and his birthday (January 1st) okay, then I'm back. If there's another setback, if he dies like they say is still a possibility due to some complications he could have, especially blood clots (he's had them before), then I don't know. I'll let you know at the beginning of January. Again, I'm very sorry, but my family is more important to me than a few stories. I love writing these stories, I do, but they're not the most important things in my life. Sometimes, you gotta set some things aside for more important things, which is what I've been doing these last months. Please bare with me for another couple of weeks, and then I'll let you know the outcome. Then I'll let you know if I'll be back or not.

Lots of love,

Lieselot.


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